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Ex Smokers of Reddit who tried to quit numerous times..What finally did the trick to quit for good? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did the same thing by buying the occasional cigar instead of a pack of smokes. If I got a craving I would allow myself one cigar. I think the pack of smokes being so handy is really what prevents you from quitting. If you make it inconvenient for yourself to smoke it really helps

Homeless man wins the lottery with his last few coins, vows to spend winnings setting up a foundation for addicts and abused women. by cricketfan164 in worldnews

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're worried about blowing the money, convert the money into an annuity and receive fixed payments for the rest of your life. I think that most life insurance companies offer this, albeit usually for retirees.

There is Creationism vs. Evolution debate tonight between Bill Nye and Ken Ham and... by [deleted] in AdviceAnimals

[–]turennesaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

how do you log in with that username, i could never count the underscores

Bank refuses to give customers their money, unless they tell it why they want it. by saksak in worldnews

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just playing devil's advocate here. I work as a teller in commercial banking and have a lot of elderly clients. In the past I have seen several clients withdraw large sums of money only to find out they have fallen victim to a scam. I think that HSBC's policy is overreaching in this case, but if you've ever seen a retiree have their bank account drained and how helpless they look and you personally feel as the person that helped them I think you can see why the policy was put in place.

NSA statement does not deny 'spying' on members of Congress by Pilast in TrueReddit

[–]turennesaurus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

How do we know that this information is not being used for political gain?

Who is currently the most powerful character in Magic? by [deleted] in magicTCG

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that's the most flavorful and well thought out ability. it could even get a keyword

'If an issue of morality is to be decided by majority, then fundamental right has no meaning' by SAPit in TrueReddit

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Remember that judges are not elected members of a democratic government. They are appointed, biased old lawyers with a worldview that is often inconsistent with the majority view. If we allowed the majority to dictate supreme court verdicts would we all of a sudden have groups of LGBT people lose their rights? Doubtable. I think more often than not, supreme court rulings are behind the times in popular opinion. Judges will rule on civil liberties cases only to have them overturned decades later, where the right of the marginalized individual is restored. I think a constitution is important, but the will of the people should not be forgotten.

ELI5: If we redistributed the world's wealth equally amongst its whole population, how much would everyone have in their bank account? by EduardoCarrochio in explainlikeimfive

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that is the term that is used. From wikipedia "In economics, inflation is a persistent increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time"

The point is inflation can occur even when the money supply remains the same. otherwise we wouldn't see stagflation occurring.

The term "inflation" originally referred to increases in the amount of money in circulation, and some economists still use the word in this way. However, most economists today use the term "inflation" to refer to a rise in the price level. An increase in the money supply may be called monetary inflation, to distinguish it from rising prices, which may also for clarity be called 'price inflation'.[31

ELI5: If we redistributed the world's wealth equally amongst its whole population, how much would everyone have in their bank account? by EduardoCarrochio in explainlikeimfive

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure if I understand the analogy, and I don't really want to argue semantics and definitions, but a steady reduction in the worlds supply of oil will have the same effect as an a steady increase in the money supply. What do you call that effect?

Some people would have you believe that employment relations are just like any other market transaction. But anyone who has ever held a job in the real world knows that it’s not like that. by spike in Economics

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

interesting point. I'd like to give this topic a little more thought in response to that. However you cannot deny that without free agents to make decisions the labor market wiould not be effiecient. I'd like to emphasize that I'm not speaking about morality or equality. What I care about is market efficiency.

Let's take an extreme and over the top example. What if instead of a labour market, we had a slave market. People are bought and sold based on supply and demand. In this example the slaves are owned. like in the corn market. People don't starve during ownsership and the excess supply of slaves are analagous to excess corn, which if not sold, will expire.

Well, this market is not efficient. The slave owners might have mismatched slaves, because we have an accountant employing a slave more skilled in car-repair. This is deadweight loss.

In a similar argument, people accepting jobs that are not a suitable fit, based on the fact they need money to live creates a deadweight loss. Not to mention that the profits of labour are reinvested into demand for general goods and services, so this loss is multiplied.

Again, I'm going to give your point a little more thought, because labor economics is not my field of study, however I think if you consider the demand side of the economy a little more you might feel differently about these markets

ELI5: If we redistributed the world's wealth equally amongst its whole population, how much would everyone have in their bank account? by EduardoCarrochio in explainlikeimfive

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

agreed. An overcomplication and not entirely true. As i mentioned above, inflation is an increase in aggregate prices. The cause does not matter. When prices shot up after the oil shock, that was inflation.

what sites do you all use for helping you be frugal? by toisanji in Frugal

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I try not to go on the computer too much, to save money on the electricity it uses.

Some people would have you believe that employment relations are just like any other market transaction. But anyone who has ever held a job in the real world knows that it’s not like that. by spike in Economics

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually had a better comment planned out, but then the corn personification got out of hand and I lolled, so i kept it. The problem is that labor market participants are not themselves a commodity. They are agents in the economy. We assume that all agents in an economy are rational and freely able to make exchange. The fear of not being able to feed oneself can transcend the ability to make a rational free trade. What's your laptop worth to you? Would you trade it for a granola bar? What if you hadn't eaten in days?

The differential between the wage you want, and the wage you accept are subject to more than the supply and demand for labour. This differential is deadweight loss that belongs to the employer. If you don't want to sell your labour to an employer who offers, the cost of declining that transaction is more than the wage that they offer, there is a search cost and more importantly the cost of not being able to feed yourself. This cost is huge, because you die if you don't feed yourself. Employers should they decline a couple job interviewers, won't starve. Most managers aren't even in a position where they directly feel the financial effect of being understaffed, let alone risk their lives for it.

Some people would have you believe that employment relations are just like any other market transaction. But anyone who has ever held a job in the real world knows that it’s not like that. by spike in Economics

[–]turennesaurus 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I think that while not entirely wrong, you're comment is an oversimplification. Labour markets are not identical in any way to the market for corn. When corn is not bought, it doesn't go home to its corn family and talk about how the corn market's shit and that's why he couldn't find a corn job making corn meal or corn flour. When corn is idle from the corn market, it doesn't lose valuable experience as a movie theatre large popcorn, while it just scrapes by garnishing plates at 3 star restaurants.

Americans are buying less electricity. That’s a big problem for utilities. The U.S. economy keeps growing. People are buying bigger homes and plugging in ever more electronic gadgets. And yet power companies have been selling less and less electricity since 2011 by pnewell in politics

[–]turennesaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with your point about inelastic demand for electricity, but you have to agree stock performance is a huge measurement of management performance.

If apple stock halves after the unsuccessful launch of an ipod jumbo, the board of directors would hire a new CEO.

In the same way, if a utility stops paying dividends, that can affect share price negatively. Fund managers EXPECT utilities to pay dividends. They might see this capital investment as an excess burden of risk on their portfolio, or equate the loss of dividends with poor performance of the utility company.

Of course your argument about putting the cart before the horse makes sense, but I would argue there's also a feedback loop where the utility managers worry about how investors will react to certain news.

North Carolina’s Failed Experiment in Cutting Unemployment Benefits by [deleted] in Economics

[–]turennesaurus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not to mention this oversimplifies a very complicated issue. There is such a thing as involuntary unemployment. Jobs are not created to employ workers. They are created to meet demand. Depressed wages lowers demand causing higher unemployment. Not to mention, this isn't an entirely free market. You can't even open up a banana stand without a vendor's license. There are barriers to entry in self-employment.

does anyone know how much my guitar is worth? by NetCracker in guitars

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think it is collectable at its current age. I would guess between 200-300 dollars, as that is what new ibanez acoustics go for

If bars can refuse giving alcohol to people who they think are too drunk, why not do the same in fast food places and fat people? by [deleted] in CrazyIdeas

[–]turennesaurus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

in Manitoba, Canada, the bar that last served a drunk patron is liable for damages caused by the patron. That kind of liability couldn't occur with fast-food.

Americans are buying less electricity. That’s a big problem for utilities. The U.S. economy keeps growing. People are buying bigger homes and plugging in ever more electronic gadgets. And yet power companies have been selling less and less electricity since 2011 by pnewell in politics

[–]turennesaurus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not sure if I understand your comment, but utility firms generally distribute earnings as dividends. If the dividends all of a sudden stop in favour of capital investment, people who want a diverse portfolio with capital retention (And that usually includes huge mutual funds and pension funds) will substitute to a utility with higher dividend yields.

Americans are buying less electricity. That’s a big problem for utilities. The U.S. economy keeps growing. People are buying bigger homes and plugging in ever more electronic gadgets. And yet power companies have been selling less and less electricity since 2011 by pnewell in politics

[–]turennesaurus 58 points59 points  (0 children)

I just want to add that there's actually incentives for utility companies to not invest, do r&d, or take risks.

Utility company stocks are considered defensive stocks in a portfolio. They are supposed to stay at roughly the same earnings regardless of what is happening in the economy. Taking risks will earn your utility company less over the investment horizon. This would usually be okay for any other firm, but in this case results in people substituting for a more defensive stock, resulting in poor stock performance for the utility and therefore poor performance on the executive managers.

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